Alterations in Gut Bacteria: The Impact of Dietary Changes
Key Takeaways:
- Transitioning dietary habits can have a profound influence on your gut bacteria, with significant shifts in bacteria quantity, diversity, and behavior observed within just a day of dietary changes.
- The gut microbiome, or bacterial population and their genes, is highly adaptable and sensitive to dietary intake. Its ability to rapidly react to dietary changes operates on much shorter time scales than previously perceived.
- The impact of these rapid changes in gut bacteria on human health is not yet fully understood and requires further research.
- Following an animal-based diet results in more significant alterations to gut bacteria compared to a plant-based diet, with 22 types of bacteria growth instigated compared to the growth of only three bacterial species on a plant-based diet.
- Bacteria thriving under an animal-based diet show an ability to resist bile acids which aid in fat breakdown, while certain bacteria thrive with fiber consumption on a plant-based diet. This could possibly explain why fatty diets are associated with certain ailments like Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis, however, more research is needed for definitive conclusions.
Transitioning your dietary habits, such as transforming from a vegetarian to a meat-eater, or vice versa, may greatly influence the characteristics of your gut bacteria, as indicated by recent research.
The study, previously revealed in the journal Nature, demonstrated that the quantity and diversity of bacteria, including their behavior, saw considerable shifts within a day of participants changing from their usual meals to solely consuming either animal or plant-based food.
Investigative Findings
“The alterations were not solely seen in the quantity of differing bacteria but also the kind of genes they expressed and their activity,” voiced study’s author Lawrence David, a junior faculty member at the Duke University Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy.
Countless multitudes of bacteria reside in everyone’s gut. These bacterial entities are speculated to be contributors to digestion, immunity, and possibly even body weight.
Flexibility of the Microbiome
This study indicates that our gut’s bacterial population and their genes – known as the microbiome – are unthinkably adaptable and capable of quickly reacting to any changes in diet.
According to David, “The gut microbiome is potentially considerably susceptible to our dietary intake. And its sensitivity operates on much shorter time scales than was previously perceived.”
Implications on Human Health
However, David also acknowledges the difficulty in pinpointing the exact implications of these findings for human health.
Another expert echoed this sentiment. Jeffrey Cirillo, a professor of microbial and molecular pathogenesis at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, said, “It’s reassuring to have concrete evidence that significant diet alterations can largely impact gut microflora. It’s fascinating to witness how rapid these changes occur.”
What equally intrigues Cirillo is the resilience shown by the microbiome in its ability to recover. The study observed that gut bacteria returned to their regular functionality approximately a day after individuals ceased consuming the experimental diet.
Study Design and Results
For this study, six males and four females aged 21 to 33 were recruited. During the first four days, participants maintained their usual diet. They then shifted to either an entirely plant-based or animal-based diet for the subsequent five days. Following this, they returned to their regular diet before switching to the other diet pattern.
An animal-based diet resulted in the greatest alterations to gut bacteria, instigating growth in 22 types of bacteria. Contrastingly, only three bacterial species became more apparent in those following the plant-based diet.
Initial Conclusions
While the researchers cannot yet fully comprehend the implications of these shifts, they suggested that some changes appear logical. Bacteria that flourished under an animal-based diet displayed aptitude at resisting bile acids, a substance produced by the liver to aid in fat breakdown. Conversely, a type of bacteria that became prevalent under the plant-based diet is believed to be sensitive to fiber consumption.
The researchers are contemplating whether these bacterial fluctuations could explain why fatty diets have been associated with ailments like Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis. More comprehensive research is necessary before any definitive conclusions can be drawn.
More information
For more on overweight and obesity, you may want to visit the Human Microbiome Project.
